PHILADELPHIA (CBS)–Today marks the start of “National Eating Disorders Awareness Week,” and a University of the Sciences professor says the problem is not just limited to young women.

Doctor Alix Timko is an assistant psychology professor at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. She is also the director of the school’s Eating Disorder Research Program. Timko says years ago, it was believed that the disorder happened in one demographic.

“The research in general shows that eating disorders are more common than we initially thought, and not only do they not just occur in young women, but they are actually common in men and boys. The most common age of onset for eating disorders is during adolescence.”

Timko says tell-tale signs of eating disorders are a preoccupation with perfection, with food and dissatisfaction with body weight or shape. She says an estimated 25-million Americans suffer from eating disorders. That national eating disorders hotline is 1-800-931-2237.